#i. — Councillor.

[catsdisco]

tag dump iii. persona 5.

Ix. — hermit. | futaba sakura. 

iii. — empress. | haru okumura. 

0. — ???. | shiho suzui. 

VI. — LOVERS. | ann takamaki. 

i. — magician. | morgana. 

i. — Councillor. | takuto maruki.

[brokenhardies]

FOOLSUKE WIP

to make up for me dropping bitbo/foolsuke;

so basically the story starts the same as the canon persona 5 - instead of akiren being arrested its yusuke

yusuke moves to shibuya in with a family friend (ohya) and goes to shujin academy where he meets his teacher takuto maruki and principal shido

first day of school ends up meeting popular streamer futaba isshiki and burnout goro akechi - ends up in shido’s palace inspired by the roman empire and awakens to his persona nezumi (or goemon depending on the draft)

they meet magician sumire (who’s a bunny rabbit) in the dungeons and free her in exchange for her helping them find an exit - her persona is giselle from the ballet of the same name

once they get back to the real world yusuke discovers that his record has been leaked - later when meeting goro on the roof goro confirms its because shido leaked it due to him viewing yusuke as a threat to his perfect school

shido’s basically a control freak who wants shujin to be perfect and rules the school with an iron fist - he brings students for ‘private study sessions’ that mostly consist of berating and occasionally physically abusing them - his sin is wrath instead of lust for that reason

so they end up in the palace a second time thanks to goro wanting to get more information on shido’s victims so he can officially report him to the police

instead what happens is that yusuke finds out that goro is shido’s bastard son with goro trying desperately to punish him for leaving him (and failing miserably) - goro awakens to his persona black bart

two days pass and yusuke finds out that futaba was the one who leaked his record, with her doing it so shido would stop harassing her friend kana - kana attempts suicide the next day and yusuke, goro and hifumi (who replaces mishima) are threatened with expulsion by shido

futaba wants to join yusuke and goro in the palace and they reluctantly let her come along - she gets captured by shido and awakens to her persona charlotte

that’s basically the first half of the story down so ill give the next palace rulers;

we have envy kaneshiro who takes the role of madarame with emperor akira and ren as his students - akira is the one who ends up in the palace and awakens to shūang bian (based on huyan zhuo from water margin)

then greed okumura who tbh is basically just the same but he’s a mafia don and is trying to make haru take over his position - priestess haru awakens to la pucelle (joan of arc’s nickname) in his palace

hermit ryuji who’s palace is a shipwreck slowly overflowing with water, who’s an amputee who blames himself for his mother’s death and his father’s abuse and his father is the boss of his palace in the form of a giant sea monster that attacks the ship - his persona is orwell

empress ann who’s mother basically is selling her models into sex slavery - her palace takes the form of a ochaya and ann joins the team in order to save her friend shiho - her persona is adler

after ann’s mom dies, detective princess makoto joins wanting to change the heart of her sister sae - november 11th happens and we discover that makoto is the traitor after she attempts to murder yusuke

palace 8 is madarame - who is actually yusuke’s biological dad and the man who got yusuke arrested that fateful night - his palace takes the form of a train with the engine room fight instead happening in the coal room - makoto’s true persona is alecto

they defeat madarame but oops! god of control! i dont have much of a plot for this but yusuke’s second tier is mephistopheles bc that’s fun

then the third semester features antag councillor takemi and her ‘guinea pig’ satoru yoshizawa - actually masaru yoshizawa aka morgana - his persona is don quixote

and that’s it! i also had a plan for strikers with the jail monarch’s switching and zenkichi & akane switching places with ichinose & sophia as well as a brief tactica concept with eri and yoshiro switching places but that’s basically it lol

i also altered the plot at some point having emperor makoto, empress morgana and faith akiren but that was before i dropped it lol

[cookinguptales]

Hi burl!! this is my first time catching one of these - if you have time, I'd love to hear what the cards say, but if not it's okay too <3

Hi! I know what you like, and what I like, so how could I pick any deck but the Persona 5 Tarot?

(Six of Pentacles, Death, The Councillor (reversed))

Well... I've had to be a bit creative with this one. Eagle-eyed tarot aficionados might be like "what the fuck is The Councillor" and they would be right. In the rereleases of Persona games, new characters are often added in, and new cards are made up to suit them.

Le Consultant/The Councillor is the card associated with Maruki Takuto. That said, the number given to it is I. The Magician. I did a little bit of digging and found out that this was taken from El Gran Tarot Esotérico, a Spanish deck created in the 1970s that was inspired partially by the Tarot de Marseille. In that deck, Le Consultant replaces The Magician.

I usually use my Rider-Waite-Smith rather than Marseille decks for these readings, but hmm I'll do my best here.

So. We start with the Six of Pentacles. This is a card typically associated with charity, whether giving or receiving. It's the season of giving, and this card usually indicates that some of that is going on. It could be that you find yourself in a positive material position and you can donate generously to charity. It could mean that you find yourself in a more precarious position and you instead need to learn to accept assistance in your time of need yourself. There is a sense of... cycles, I suppose, to this card, and to equivalent exchange.

In other words, there is a sense here that the direction of the money in this situation has no moral judgment attached to it. There are some days when we are lucky and we can give to others. There are other days when we are unlucky and we'll need to receive charity instead. As long as you don't find yourself in a position of always giving or always taking, this card is basically telling you to find your place in the web of exchange right now.

When reversed, it typically means that things are out of whack; you could be giving too much or taking too much, being taken advantage of or taking advantage. That said, the card is currently upright, so things are currently okay.

Next, we have Death. I feel like I say this every time I do these readings, but it's always true. People are scared of this card, but they needn't be. In tarot, Death stands for change. (And in Persona 5, this card represents the hot doctor. So yeah, be not afraid and all that.)

I always like to explain it like this -- there is a death happening here, but a metaphorical one. It is the death of the old to make room for the new. It's like a snake shedding its skin, y'know? It might not have been a bad skin once, but it's no longer serving the snake's needs. You need to discard that skin and lean into the ways that your life is changing now. I can't promise that all changes now will be good... but this card usually indicates that good or bad, they're necessary.

Finally that troublesome Councillor. This card is being specifically tied to The Magician here, so I'll be using that as a starting point. I often say that... y'know, The Magician is usually a positive card. It's about using your own willpower to take your unconscious desires and manifest them in reality. It's about taking hold of your own spiritual power and using it to make your dreams come true. But there's also an element of warning to it at times, particularly when it's reversed, as it is here. There's a sense that you can go too far, or you can use your power for less than savory goals. I think that's probably what's going on in this iteration of the card.

In Maruki, we have a character with exceptional ability to make an illusory world real, and who truly does believe that he's doing the right thing. But The Magician, in its negative traits, can be wildly manipulative, selfish, and deceitful -- and Maruki is. For all that he's trying to help people, he does it in a way that ultimately hurts them.

So... that's where I think they're going with this. The negative aspects of The Magician. And because it's reversed here, I think it's an even more severe issue.

I don't think that this card is an indictment so much as it is a warning. There are a lot of changes going on with Death, and only you can choose what your life will be when the dust settles. The Magician is generally a card about being in tune with your true self and manifesting what you find there. So I think the warning here is not to lose sight of your true self and your true goals while you're trying to manifest your dreams. Not to bring up JKR and all, but never go full Slytherin, y'know?

Overall... I think this is just a spread that's acknowledging that there are a lot of changes going on in your life right now and telling you not to be afraid of them, even if things are financially dicey for a little while. That said, it's also cautioning you to stay true to yourself and not give into the temptation to be underhanded in the service of your desires going forward. (Maybe particularly where loans/charity/income is concerned, see: Six of Pentacles.)

[a-mel-tomelts]

For newcomers to P5R

It’s been barely a month since the release of Persona 5 Royal on other platforms. Officially freeing it from the chains of being Playstation exclusive.

What it improved from the Vanilla?:

You are given significantly more time in the real world compared to Vanilla. Evenings are not going to waste now, because you can spend time inside of Leblanc making it efficient to raise Social Stats by reading, watching DVDs or playing videogame which are available after baying a console from the second-hand shop in Yongen-Jaya.

There is a new place called Kichijoji! Ther eyou can play Darts to raise your Baton Pass level, which now i available from the beginning and doesn’t require the Confidant Rank. Billiards, to raise your Technical damage when an enemy doesn’t have a weakness. Or spend time with Akechi and a new Royal girl, Kasumi.

Thieves Den, or, My Palace in Japanese, is a place which doesn’t add to your game time, is a fun area where you can watch videos, concept arts, customize or play Tycoon. Everything gets open with you moving forward through the plot or raising Confidants. I greatly advice you to raise every Confidant to rank 10 because then on a New Game+ you will get unique interactions between characters. Be it Takemi and Kawakami, Iwai and Shinya or my favourite, Akechi. 

To gain coins to open stuff, you can get achievements or play aforementioned Tycoon. A cool card game that is WORTH. Best game. Bought P5R just for this game. And you can play with your favourite Phantom Thieves!! But fyi, Akechi can’t play with certain character for… plot reasons. You will understand later why.

As for the story, Royal adds a complete new third semester that becomes accessible after reaching rank 9 with the Councillor Confidant, Takuto Maruki. You don’t have to raise Confidant with Akechi, which in the original was automatic, or Kasumi - but it will make the third semester better if you do. Mostly I recommend raising Kasumi’s Confidant if you are going for Royal content immediately. If you want to see Persona’s original ending, then scrap hanging out with Maruki. Kasumi would be a bit of a waste without a third semester but the decision is yours. Akechi though? If you want to make your strangers-to-rivals-to-friends fantasies true, just spend time with him. I swear, even without shipping thing his Confidant is awesome. Rank 8 absolute slayer and keeps bringing me chills down my spine every time. (Althought it’s confirmed he has a crush on Protagonist by one of the developers)

Other few changes: 

Guns are now not limited to Palaces but battles, making them easily accessible at any new battle without worrying to waste them.

New Showtime ability that becomes available along with the plot. Showtime is a special attack of two characters from your party. The best ones involving Joker are the ones available only in third semester which means almost at the end of the game. Sadge.

New portraits for the characters. 

Book for fast reading which allows to read two sections instead of one is now available in your School library instead of Jinbocho bookstore on the first of July(7/1)

A new game, Featherman Seeker is available in Akihabara game shop. I recommend playing all the games but this one in particular after December Palace.

More welcoming interface when crafting infiltration tools.

Grappling Hook. Best thing, thank you Sakurai-sama.

Persona now has traits when fusing or catching them. Traits are the ones similar to Pokemon. An additional passive skill that can strengthen your Persona if you have a build for it. 

A Red Alert for Velvet room which helps itemize shadows for an evolved version of an item and fuse into a more powerful version of a Persona. On the second and third attempt of doing something, though, you’ll get an accident for better or worse and then get kicked out instantly. But then you are free to come back at any time and trigger the Red Alert again with the help of Fortune Confidant, Chihaya Mifune, or by just killing shadows.

Places have been changed for the better and Bosses gained new abilities and attacks. Which I would describe without spoilers as:

Lust is really your sin, huh, Atlus?

BRICK. Cough I mean- BATOP PASS. BATON PASS. BATON PA-

Money money money. It’s so funny-

Pyramid: Press X to win

Hey it’s actually pretty g- *uncanny mr fantastic*

And I think that sums up the whole experience. Lol. Feel free to ask me about the game. I’ll be glad to!~

Ply a reel SMT gam. 

[diamondverse-swapann]

CHARACTERS YOU CAN ASK FROM DIAMONDVERSE!

This is an Arcana-Swap AU featuring Protagonist!Ann. The list of characters who you can ask about will be down below.

You can ask a character to recount their whole storyline, if you want.

Please don't ask anything spoiler-y or mean. Otherwise, go wild!

If I get enough asks, more characters will be added!

You can ask the Phantom Thieves:

Fool/World!Ann Liekki a.k.a. Diamond

Magician!Futaba a.k.a. Hamham

Lovers!Morgana Kurusu a.k.a. Jaguar

Chariot!Akira Kurusu a.k.a. Knight

Emperor!Makoto Niijima a.k.a. General

Priestess!Sumire Yoshizawa a.k.a. Zinnia

Hermit!Haru Mifune a.k.a. Mystic

Empress!Goro Akechi a.k.a. Marquis

Justice!Ryuji Sakamoto a.k.a. Clubber

Faith!Natsuhiko Nakanohara a.k.a. Wily

Hope!Hifumi a.k.a. Mimi

Apostle!Toranosuke Yoshida a.k.a. Tiger

Or the following of Ann's Confidants:

Councillor!Ichiko Ohya

Hierophant!Chihaya Mifune

Fortune!Sae Fukurai

Strength!"Ernest"

Hanged Man!Sadayo Kawakami

Death!Sojiro Sakura

Temperance!Tae Takemi

Devil!Lavenza Scimia

Tower!Takuto Maruki

Star!Sophia & Kuon Ichinose

Moon!Shinya Oda

Sun!Zenkichi Hasegawa

Judgement!Munehisa Iwai

We even have some extra Confidants! All Arcana are taken from the Osho Zen Tarot!

Awareness!Mika Chishiya

Breakthrough!Momiji Sakamoto

Change!Shiho Suzui

Silence!Amanda Liekki

Courage!Alice Hiiragi

Aloneness!Wakaba Isshiki

Hope to get all sorts of asks from y'all!!!

[aestheticallergist]

Does Lavenza sound almost desperate in all her Confidant speeches, or is that JUST with Akechi’s.

Edit: I know it’s weird, but it’s little things like this that catch my attention. What’s weird is the fact Lavenzas desperate dialogue is only heard with the three new confidants, which happen to be Akechi, Maruki and Sumi. It only stands out to me, bc they obviously re-recorded it, but didn’t re-record any of the other confidant rank ups, whether that be to save time or what. It’s just weird. You would’ve thunk that they would’ve just kept the original two sentences & then voiced the final line, but they didn’t. I know I’m just digging a fruitless hole, but it’s something that’s stuck out to me time & time again. I knew it sounded different and I was absolutely right.

For comparison; I just find this hella interesting.

[lizzytastisch]

Finished Persona 5 Royal recently and needed to sketch my favorite confidant!

[1-800-c0sm1c]

꒰phantom thief masterlist !꒱

JOKER - REN AMAMIYA

┊i.    groovy !

┊ii.   i will always love you !

┊iii.   bad dracula !

┊iv.   baby im yours !

CHARIOT - RYUJI SAKAMOTO

┊i.    groovy !

┊ii.   i will always love you !

┊iii.   blue lemonade !

┊iv.   baby im yours !

LOVERS - ANN TAKAMAKI

┊i.    groovy !

EMPEROR - YUSUKE KITAGAWA

┊i.   groovy pt.2 !

┊ii.   i will always love you !

┊iii.   baby im yours !

PRIESTESS - MAKOTO NIJIMA

┊i.   groovy pt.2 !

HERMIT - FUTABA SAKURA

┊i.   groovy pt.2 !

EMPRESS - HARU OKUMURA

┊i.   groovy pt.2 !

JUSTICE - GORO AKECHI

┊i.    groovy !

┊ii.   i will always love you !

┊iii.   baby im yours !

FAITH - SUMIRE YOSHIZAWA

┊i.    bad dracula !

꒰confidant masterlist !꒱

STAR - HIFUMI TOGO

┊i.    

JUDGEMENT - SAE NIJIMA

┊i.    

COUNCILLOR - TAKUTO MARUKI

┊i.    

updated as of 11/15/2022 <3

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Literal Theatre Kid AU: Confidants

I don’t go into detail about Ren’s Confidants within the story itself for the most part. This is mostly for fun, and mostly because as of posting this, Confidant events are still a work in progress.

Here’s the list that we have.

0. The Fool - The Mankai Company: A theater company situated at the end of Veludo Way that's indebted to the yakuza. You've been staying with them since your arrival.

I. The Magician - Morgana: An amnesiac talking cat who moved in with you after meeting you in the Metaverse.

I. The Councillor - Takuto Maruki: A counselor recently hired by Hanasaki Academy. He reaches out to students to help ease their burdens.

II. The Priestess - Makoto Niijima: Hanasaki Academy's student council president. Dropping her mask of an honor student, she joins the group.

III. The Empress - Haru Okumura: Third-year student of Hanasaki Academy and heiress to a conglomerate. She rises to avenge her father.

IV. The Emperor - Yusuke Kitagawa: Japanese art-genius and Ouka High student. He is resentful of adults who leech off the talents of others.

V. The Hierophant - Sakyo Furuichi: The yakuza member who is responsible for Mankai's debt. He has joined the Autumn Troupe in order to assist in saving the company.

VI. The Lovers - Ann Takamaki: A quarter-American who spent time abroad. She stood up to save those like herself and her friend.

VII. The Chariot - Ryuji Sakamoto: A fellow Persona User and former star of the track team. He is resentful of selfish adults.

VIII. Justice - Goro Akechi: A third year "high school detective" from another school. He looks for the culprit behind the psychotic breakdowns.

IX. The Hermit - Futaba Isshiki: A genius hacker who is a year younger than you. She opened her heart to the group that saved her.

X. The Wheel of Fortune - Taichi Nanao: A member of Mankai Company's Autumn Troupe. He has a puppy-like personality that puts him on high-alert.

XI. Strength - Justine and Caroline: The twin wardens of the Velvet Room. Under their master's orders, they test your skills and help you fuse.

XII. The Hanged Man - Omi Fushimi: An actor in Autumn Troupe as well as the photographer for Mankai Company. You invited him to auditions after noticing his interest.

XIII. Death - Tsumugi Tsukioka: The leader of Winter Troupe who aimed to be an actor in the past. He returned to Veludo Way to give his acting career another shot.

XIV. Temperance - Izumi Tachibana: The Mankai Company's current director who is working to keep the company afloat. She is your current guardian.

XV. The Devil - Juza Hyodo: A former lone wolf that auditioned for Autumn Troupe. Despite his outward appearance and attitude, he has a strong passion for acting.

XVI. The Tower - Banri Settsu: The leader of Autumn Troupe who auditioned to get revenge for his only defeat. Despite being a delinquent, he is considered a prodigy.

XVII. The Star - Misumi Ikaruga: One of Summer Troupe's actors who settled down in the dorms without anyone's knowledge. It's often hard for you to completely understand him.

XVIII. The Moon - Tenma Sumeragi: The leader of Summer Troupe who has been acting since he was a child. Though he's talented, he lacks the ability to understand others.

XIX. The Sun - Sakuya Sakuma: The leader of Spring Troupe and the first member of the rebooted Mankai Company. Out of everyone, he works the hardest during rehearsal.

XX. Judgement - Sae Niijima: A young, talented prosecutor of the Special Investigations Unit. Makoto's older sister and a regular theater-goer.

Faith - Sumire Yoshizawa: A first year at Hanasaki who becomes your apprentice to improve her gymnastics and teach you moves.

[secondchanceofficialblog]

About The Author and Characters Who Asks Are Open For

My name is Inkwell1013, but you can call me Inkwell or Ink. I use She/Her and They/Them pronouns, and generally prefer masculine or neutral terms. My main tumblr account is Inkwell1013 and my Ao3 is also Inkwell1013. I primarily write for Persona 5 but do dabble in other fandoms. 

Characters you can currently ask questions are beneath the read more, along with their arcana. There will also be a link to a mood board for each character who currently has one, as well as mood boards for Palaces. You are also welcome to ask me any questions you have about the fic, provided they aren’t major spoilers. All picrews used for mood boards are made with this.

Phantom Thieves Ryuji Sakamoto / Captain - The World  Haru Okumura / Wraith - The Chariot Chihaya / Chichi - The Magician Sumire Yoshizawa / Libero - The Lovers Goro Akechi / Lord - The Emperor Futaba Sakura / Glitch - The Moon

Canon Confidants Igor - The Fool Arcana Mayumi Sakamoto - The Hierophant Makoto Wukuri - The Justice Shinya - The Strength Sophia - The Hanged Man Takuto Maruki - The Death Munehisa Iwai - The Temperance Sadayo Kawakami - The Sun Zenkichi Hasegawa - The Judgement Akira Kurusu - The Faith Tae Takemi - The Councillor

Additional Confidants Jose - The Aeon Kasumi Yoshizawa - The Charity  Lala Escargot - The New Perspective Sojiro Sakura - The Priest Palaces Suguru Kamoshida’s Castle of Lust Mugaiko Gōin’s Junkyard of Greed

[cantfoolajoker]

persona users and their arcanas

i compiled a list of all confirmed persona users (p1-p5s) and sorted them by arcana out of curiosity to see where most of the users are. the list goes in order starting with fool and ends with the unnumbered arcanas, and i believe i got every user we see, but i could definitely have missed a minor character or two.

some notes: - fool, magician, lovers, and fortune are tied for highest amount of users. temperance is the least with no users. - the only attendant that was counted was elizabeth due to her confirmed wildcard status in p4a2, which slots her as a persona user on level with aigis and other protagonists. - i tried to list any major discrepancies between arcanas. mainly, aigis (for having 3 different confirmed ones across wildcard, persona, and slink), akihiko and shinjiro (persona and slink), and adachi (arcana switches midway through). - arcanas that share numbers were merged, like magician/councillor and strength/hunger. - reverse persona users are also noted - sho is not a persona user, so he was not listed. minazuki is. labrys and shadow labrys are also separate entries for the same reason.

0. Fool (includes Jester) P3 Protag Tohru Adachi (P4G) Aigis (P4A(2)) Elizabeth (P4A2) P4 Protag P5 Protag

I. Magician (includes Councillor) Yuka Ayase (P1) Junpei Iori (P3) Yosuke Hanamura (P4) Morgana (P5) Takuto Maruki (P5R)

II. Priestess Maki Sonomura (P1) Fuuka Yamagishi (P3) Yukiko Amagi (P4) Makoto Niijima (P5)

III. Empress Yukino Mayuzumi (P1) Mitsuru Kirijo (P3) Haru Okumura (P5)

IV. Emperor P1 Protag Akihiko Sanada (P3 - By Persona) Kanji Tatsumi (P4) Yusuke Kitagawa (P5)

V. Hierophant (includes Priest) Kei Nanjo (P1) Shinjiro Aragaki (P3 - By Persona) Metis (P3 The Answer) Zenkichi Hasegawa (P5S)

VI. Lovers Lisa Silverman (P2IS) Ginji Sasaki (P2IS) / Reversed Yukari Takeba (P3) Rise Kujikawa (P4) Ann Takamaki (P5)

VII. Chariot Masao Inaba (P1) Aigis (P3 - By Persona) Chie Satonaka (P4) Ryuji Sakamoto (P5)

VIII. Justice Hidehiko Uesugi (P1) Katsuya Suou (P2EP) Ken Amada (P3P) Goro Akechi (P5)

IX. Hermit Jin Shirato (P3) Futaba Sakura (P5)

X. Fortune Jun Kurosu (P2IS) Takaya Sakaki (P3) Naoto Shirogane (P4) Labrys (P4A(2)) Shadow Labrys (P4A(2))

XI. Strength (includes Hunger) Koromaru (P3) Tohru Adachi (P4G)

XII. Hanged Man Baofu (P2EP) Chidori Yoshino (P3)

XIII. Death Reiji Kido (P1) Eikichi Mishina (P2IS) Elizabeth (P4A)

XIV. Temperance None

XV. Devil Reiji Kido (P1)

XVI. Tower Anna Yoshizaka (P2IS) / Reversed

XVII. Star Ulala Serizawa (P2EP) Akihiko Sanada (P3P) Teddie (P4)

XVIII. Moon Maya Amano (P2IS & P2EP) Akinari Hoshi (P2IS) / Reversed Shinjiro Aragaki (P3P) Minazuki ( P4A2)

XIX. Sun Tatsuya Suou (P2IS & P2EP) Tatsuya Suduo (P2IS) / Reversed

XX. Judgement (includes Aeon) Eriko Kirishima (P1) Aigis (P3)

UNNUMBERED. Sumire Yoshizawa / Faith (P5R) Sophia / Hope (P5S)

[renxamamiya]

The Sins of Your Mistakes Weigh Heavily On My Soul

A03 Link Here

My half of a tradefic with @wildcard-rumi. This is based on my Theatre of Mirrors AU and her Takuto is Ren's Dad AU, specifically on her 'Buried Memories' series.

Go have a read of her AU, it's amazing and I love it. As for people waiting for Theatre of Mirrors don't worry, I've been busy/exhausted with other personal projects and life that I haven't really got the time/motivation to write it. But I will hopefully put something out before March!

Sumire: Hello, Dr. Maruki-San Sumire: Can you come to Leblanc today? There’s something we need your help with. Sumire: It’s about Ren.

---

Takuto stared at Sumire’s message on his phone, his fingers awkwardly tapping against the hardwood that made the Leblanc counter. It had been a while since he’d met the rest of the thieves; more than a year had passed since he’d tried to force a false reality to the whole of humanity, one where there was no concept of pain, only placid happiness in which the wildest dreams had come true. It came with a price: the stagnation of humanity, one where no one had to struggle, had to fight for what they wanted. He did it out of kindness, of course; to save everyone from the pain he experienced, from the pain his son had to endure... Looking back upon his mistake, he found it ironic that his sole reason to plunge humanity in a reality of ignorant bliss was the one who unravelled his plans at the seams.

It wasn’t as if Ren didn’t have his share of anguish, yet Takuto was too aware he had condemned his son to nothing but suffering. A clumsy night in the early hours during his time in college, Ren having to grow up without a traditional, nuclear family... Him having to witness Rumi’s death, traumatized, only then to have his memories wiped... Takuto still found the memory of Ren in the hospital room hard to swallow, the time where he’d used his Persona’s powers to alter reality, to make him happy. Reflecting upon it with his changed heart, he now realised that his good intentions would have led humanity into a Hellish existence; though he didn’t regret it one bit as he wouldn’t have reunited with his son in the first place.

He nestled the cup of coffee he had close to him, taking a sip from it, savouring the complex flavours intertwined with the tangy bitterness of the roast. Sakura-san had kindly brewed a cup for him to enjoy before closing the shop temporarily for his meeting with Ren’s friends, Takuto graciously accepting the cup and paying for it, waiting anxiously for the group to arrive. A ring of the bell caught his attention, Takuto whipping his head to see Sumire’s eyes peering from the frames of her glasses. She smiled upon seeing him, rushing into the quiet cafe followed by the other thieves before giving him a quick bow, “Good morning, Maruki-sensei,” she greeted, and Takuto laughed at her extreme politeness.

“You don’t have to be so formal, Yoshizawa-san,” Maruki laughed, “I’m not your teacher anymore, and I did come here because you asked, after all,”

He looked over to the rest of the group, the thieves minus Sumire sitting in the booths, their faces solemn as they looked away from his gaze. Takuto frowned; he had spotted Morgana quietly curled on Haru’s lap, the girl running her fingers in his fur absent-mindedly, looking worried at the cat with worry. Another sweep of the room with his eyes, distress welling inside him. Before Sumire could even speak, having noticed his panicked expression he asked out loud to the room: “Where’s Ren? Has something happened to him?”

“That’s... what we want to talk to you about,” Makoto said, yet she found it hard to look Takuto in the eyes. The feeling of unease between the thieves grew between them, the worried glances they exchanged only made him more anxious.

“What happened? Is he okay?” he stuttered, jumping from his seat, “Did he get into some sort of trouble? Is he in danger?” Each time he asked them the group winced, Sumire’s cheerful expression evaporated as she watched Takuto beg for any sort of information, each question curling the corners of her frown deeper on her face, “I need to know, please tell me: what is going on?”

“It’s... hard to say,” Ann replied to his plea, “It... he...”

“Ren’s gotta Palace,” Ryuji huffed, stoic at Takuto’s shocked reaction, “We’ve been infiltration’ it for some time now,”

“He has a Palace?!” Takuto’s eyes widened, shocked at this revelation, “W-when did he get one? Does that mean that world... the Metaverse came back? How-”

“We don’t know,” Makoto tried her best in answering him, her voice understanding at his floundering confusion, “We don’t know when the Palace had been formed, but when it did fully form it brought back the Metaverse with it,”

“And Mementos too,” Futaba added, “The whole thing, and his Shadow has been manipulating it too for his own goals,”

“Just like...” Takuto swallowed, still bewildered at this newfound knowledge, “But why? Do any of you know?”

“He has mentioned a performance of some kind,” Yusuke said, “One ‘of a lifetime’, it isn’t wrong to suspect his plans with Mementos had something to do with it,”

“Have you noticed something with the public, Maruki-san?” Haru asked him, her expression curious, “We’ve been noticing ourselves the renewed interest in the Phantom Thieves out in public, even selling Phantom Thief merchandise again,”

“I... I have,” Takuto swallowed, loosening the buttons of his coat, his hands shaking in the warm air of the cafe, “I’ve heard things on the radio about the Phantom Thieves; passengers would always mention about them to me, but I always thought it was because of the anniversary of your first heist that brought interest back. Kamoshida, right?”

Ryuji and Ann cringed at the mention of Kamoshida, Takuto immediately regretting his words, “S-so anyway, where is Ren? He has a Palace, but I assume-”

“He’s trapped inside of it,” Takuto whipped his head to look at the cat, Morgana, rising from his listless nap upon Haru’s lap to talk to him, “For some reason his shadow’s keeping him in there. No idea why, but what we do know is that he’s kept at the top floor,”

“Trapped inside...” Takuto repeated under his breath, rolling the words on his tongue as he tried desperately to even comprehend the situation. Heavy silence soon fell amongst the group. Takuto bit his lip, was he the one who caused this?

Makoto cleared her throat, snapping the room back into attention “There’s a vital area of the Palace he refuses to open up for any of us, Takuto. Anyone but you, that is, according to his shadow,”

Takuto looked at her in thought, contemplating her words, they churned in his mind. He looked at the polished floor of the cafe, his lips pursed. He curled his fingers into a fist, his chest tightened, Takuto blinking the tears from his eyes as they arose.

He looked back up at the thieves, their eyes filled with hope, pleading for him to assist them in saving his son.

“Alright, I’ll go with you to his Palace; Ren’s Palace,” he said.

---

“Is this?”

Takuto gazed at the foyer before him, watching the humanoid cognitions before him, all of them chatting to and fro, paying no mind to the thieves, all of them wearing masks. Light from the scarlet day of the outside shone wonderfully through the stained-glass windows. He gazed uneasily at the statue that nestled itself between the two ascending stairs, gulping down the stress and anxiety he felt, staring at an uncharacteristically pompous statue of his son.

“The Palace is becoming more unstable with each trial we complete,” Goro informed him, Takuto still bewildered by the mere fact that he was alive, and more importantly, helping the thieves with their infiltration, “I’d advise you to keep your wits and do whatever the shadow wants you to do, we can’t risk it prematurely collapsing,”

Takuto nodded, intimidated by the former detective, barely hiding the disdain he felt towards the former councillor. He had almost condemned the entirety of reality to one of false bliss, forcing his wants onto the entirety of reality. He also understood Goro still felt bitter towards him with erasing Ren’s memories, making him suffer, the infallible leader a mess in the confrontation of his recollections, having no way to cope with any of them. Sure, he had come out on top of them, able to power through his relieved anguish of losing Rumi, of losing his father, of having to witness her...

“It certainly has seen better days,” the bespectacled man sighed. He could still see signs of grandiose and luxury in the untended chaos of the tatters and scratches that accented each curtain and carpet, as if abandoned and allowed to rot with time. A part of him still wanted to deny the sight before him, still rationalised that nothing about this was real, that his son was back in reality, that he was safe, that this was some sick prank conjured up by his friends.

All those wishful thoughts Takuto had mustered quickly dashed when he saw the figure stood before them. Waiting.

“-And remember, refer to him as Joker, not Ren,” Goro hissed in his ear, “All we can do is appease him unless... well, I don’t suppose you’d like to end up as a corpse, would you?”

“I- Thank you, Akechi-san,” Takuto gulped, nodding in acknowledgement of Goro’s warning before turning towards his son. Though they were meters apart it felt like they were looking across the maw of a canyon. With a step, and then another, Takuto walked towards his son.

“Hello, dad,”

“Hello, Joker,” Takuto responded to the shadow’s greeting, already unnerved by his eyes, no longer grey but golden. Was this a shadow his friends constantly mentioned about, the dark, repressed side of the individual? Takuto had never gotten a chance to meet such a being, the ruler of his own distortions, he was the one who sat atop of his warped heart, ruling them with a gentle hand. He had his familiar outfit on, his will of rebellion, Takuto recalling seeing it when the thieves confronted him to change his heart. Though it was the differences that unsettled him: his dapper vest shining in scarlet red, his mask, black and golden, greatly increased the eerie glow of his eyes, “You wanted to see me?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I want to see my own father,” Joker said, words dripping with sarcasm, “It’s been a while since we last sat down and talked, I’m really starting to miss it a lot,”

“Likewise?” Takuto said cautiously, fearful of what the shadow’ll do to him if he misspoke, “I would like to spend some time catching up with you, if that is your reason for summoning me of course,”

“It was! You know me so well, father,” Joker smiled, and hand raised and the click of his fingers, a door swung open among the foyer, “Come, come with me, we have a lot to talk about I’m sure,”

---

The theatre room led him into nothing but a featureless void Takuto discovered, empty as if he was transported to another world. The Phantom Thieves, Ren’s friends, did warn him about the possible dangers that he had to face, Takuto still willing to plunge into whatever trial Ren - Joker - wanted him to face. The shadow unnerved him yes; he reasoned that anyone would be uncomfortable with the confrontation with the shadow of a loved one, their dark, inner thoughts giving shape in a distorted environment. A ‘Palace’ the thieves called it. Walking in the directionless void he hoped deeply his knowledge of the Metaverse could aid him in whatever Joker wanted him to endure. He had to save his son from himself, and this time he wasn’t going to run away from him, Takuto told himself.

“Daddy?”

Takuto’s heart jumped in his throat, him turning instinctively towards the sound of a child whimpering in the darkness. The voice was familiar, too familiar, a beacon that guided Takuto in the dark, or a lure to ensnare him into the jaws of his doom, Takuto rushing towards it with haste all the same.

“Daddy? Where are you?”

“Ren!” Takuto shouted, clambering toward the terrified child, tripping on his own feet with every other stride he took in a desperate, maddened haste to reach his crying son. He didn’t consider the possibility of the apparition of his crying son to be a trap, only instinct carried him forward until he approached the small cognition.

Grey, watery eyes full of innocence stared back at him, the small form of Ren clutching tightly onto a distinct plush of a cat. Takuto’s heart melted as he knelt to his level to address the boy, to show him that he meant no harm, the boy shying away into the fur of his toy.

“I’m here for you, Ren,” Takuto cooed, reaching out his arms towards the frightened boy. The young Ren stopped his crying. He looked at Takuto’s inviting, outstretched arms; and then at him, Takuto gave him a smile that radiated safety and love.

“Who-who are you?” from the stuttering, fearful cognition was the reaction that Takuto did not expect, his face falling in confusion, his bemusement matched with the smaller Ren that stared blankly back at him. Takuto tenderly brushed the mess of hair away from Ren’s eyes.

“I-I’m your dad,” Takuto said reassuringly, yet the cracks of his tone betrayed the melancholic feelings that welled inside of him. To see those grey eyes gaze upon him, wide and curious and with wholly innocence broke his heart, “There’s no need to be scared, Ren. I’m here now, I’ll protect you,”

Young Ren looked at him, slightly backing away from the unfamiliar, familiar man in front of him, “I... I don’t... I don’t remember, if you’re my dad I don’t remember you! I don’t-”

“Hey, calm down,” Takuto said, yet he respected the distance Ren had put between them, “It’s alright to forget sometimes, which is why we need others to help us remember,”

“I-”

“Do you trust me, Ren?” Takuto asked the frightened child. Young Ren looked at him hesitantly, clutching the stuffed toy in his arms closer against his chest. He looked down onto the floor, pausing in contemplation.

“I... Guess so,” Young Ren mumbled shyly, eyes flickering between the floor and Takuto that reminded the bespectacled man so much about Ren in his younger years. He gestured for the child to sit down in front of him, Young Ren doing so obediently, the both of them folding their legs as they sat cross-legged on the murky floor.

“Now, do you remember anything about your father?” Takuto asked, adopting a more professional persona with inquiring the boy, “Anything at all?”

“Well, I think he wears glasses,” Young Ren started, curling his small thumb and finger before holding them up to his face, peering into the holes he had made with his hands, “They’re really big on his face. He wears them a lot, and I barely see him take them off,”

“That’s good, what else do you remember?” Takuto asks, amazed at Ren’s recollection, the boy knitting his eyebrows in concentration.

“And... He had brown hair,” Ren recalled, his hands moving to his head, “Brown hair that was really long and wavy, but not too long like a girl’s. He also had brown eyes... and...”

“And?”

“He would watch Featherman with me,” Ren said, “Every Saturday, he would wake up just to watch Featherman with me. I would always ask which Featherman he liked the best a-and he would ask me who was mine, and it was-”

“Featherman Red,” Takuto finished, Young Ren’s eyes widening, “I remember. I’ve always remembered,”

“A-and,” Ren continued, his cheeks slightly flushed against his skin, “I remember whenever he came home he would always bring apples! He’s not good at cooking them, but I didn’t mind eating them anyway, because he would always bring home the really tasty ones,”

And the child continued his recollection, Takuto’s small smile that sat on his lips grew a little wider with each detail Ren managed to recall, the excitement in his eyes growing more and more, and Takuto wondered if the child was even aware of how much he recalled. Yet whenever Takuto asked for the child of his father’s name he merely blinked at Takuto.

“I don’t remember my daddy’s name,” Young Ren shook his head, his disappointment reflecting Takuto’s, “I’m trying really hard, I am!”

“I know you are,” Takuto sighed, resting a hand upon his shoulder, giving the small child a reassuring smile. Yet, as defiant as his grown-up self, Young Ren shook his hand away.

“But, there’s one name I do remember.” Young Ren mumbled under his breath. Takuto’s eyes widened, a sudden drop of water dropped upon his head. Carefully reaching over the moist patch of his hair he looked at his fingers. Nothing. He looked up. Only the black that characterized their surroundings present. He turned to look back at the boy.

“What name is it?” Takuto asked, Young Ren squeezed his eyes shut.

“I... it’s someone close to dad,” he mumbled. More droplets of phantom liquid dripped upon him, “Someone... I.... don’t remember,” The child began to panic, “I... I can’t remember it anymore. I can’t, I’m-”

“There, there,” Takuto cooed, brushing away Ren’s tears, ignoring the storming of the invisible rain on his person that only increased in ferocity, “It’s okay. Just do like what we did with your dad, okay?”

“O-okay,” Young Ren said, trying hard to salvage a mask of bravery, looking at Takuto with red, blotched eyes “I mean... I don’t have a lot of memories of her...”

“Her..?” Takuto feared he knew who the young boy was referring to, the invisible storm now pouring magnitudes onto him, unrelenting, the liquid thumping hard against his frame, his hearing starting to be muffled by the roar of rushing water, “Ren, maybe we should-”

“She had big eyes-” Young Ren began to recite, Takuto grabbing tightly onto his shoulders, his pleas for the boy to stop falling on death ears.

“-and she was smart, and nice-” Young Ren continued, oblivious to the panicking Takuto that desperately pleaded with him to stop.

It smelled. Everything smelled rancid, like something rotten, something foul, something metallic. But it was as if Ren was painfully unaware of the speckles of red splattered on his face.

“-and, and she had red hair!”

Takuto recognised the expression the young boy suddenly snapped into, grey eyes once filled with ignorance now watered with fear and distress. The memories of the break-in, the blood, the red. The child stumbled back away from Takuto, both of them shocked that the ground seemed to ripple under them.

“Ren!” was all Takuto could utter until a shrill shriek spilled from Ren’s lips. More blood dripped down from the sky, the child turned and tripped against his feet and fell onto the ground. Takuto reached for Ren but stopped.

Rumi. Rumi was in the reflection, so many copies of her, eye wide and afraid, blood gushing from her red locks, Takuto speechless, the only sound coming from his lips were the terrified whimpers that bubbled up from his tight throat. He too soon stumbled onto his knees, his own distressed reflection mirrored back at him, Takuto’s traumatic expression staring back at him among the mosaic of Rumi’s last moments. He dared not to look at the scene above him.

“Subject one is asleep and well, Dr Maruki,”

“Was the actualisation successful?” his voice rang in his ears. Takuto blinked his watering eyes, adjusting his vision to the spotless white tiles that made up the room. The familiar, sterile smell of disinfectant stung his nostrils, Takuto barely making out the sweetness of forgotten flowers in bouquets that splashed colour among the featureless wall. He allowed himself time to collect himself; he looked at his hands, bloodless yet he swore he could still feel the liquid staining his hands.

“Yes, Dr Maruki,” the unfamiliar voice rang out. Takuto swallowed the bile that rose from his throat, allowing himself to collect his composure and strength before he stumbled onto his feet with great effort.

Suddenly he found himself in a chair, gazing at the two figures looking over a sleeping child. One was a faceless nurse, writing on a clipboard as she talked. The other was himself, “There seemed to be no complications with the procedure,” the nurse continued, the reflection of Takuto reaching down absent-mindedly to stroke the sleeping Ren’s hair, “He should be waking up at any moment,”

“Thank you,” the other Takuto smiled, “You may go now,”

The nurse nodded before dissipating into a thin cloud of smoke, the other Takuto sighing before turning to the sitting Takuto, looking at him soberly.

“It was...” Takuto croaked, the guilt of his past mistake tightening in his stomach, “I just wanted...”

“I’m sure he’ll understand,” the other Takuto said quietly, turning back to the sleeping form of Ren, white-gloved hands coiling around strands of black hair. Flashes of memories flickered from within Takuto’s vision. How his son’s face contorted in anguish at the recollection of memories, how desperate he was to forget, willing to battle his friends to preserve his own ignorance, the lingering gazes, hauntings of his own psychological pain that echoed from within his own eyes, “He’s such a strong child, even when staring at the face of danger he still puts on a brave face,”

“Yeah, he really-” he feels something wrapping tightly around Takuto’s wrists. He looked down; blackish-blue tendrils slid across his skin. Panic rises from his chest and tightens his throat; he struggles against the grip of the monster binding him.

“There’s one more thing I need to get rid of,” the other Takuto murmured, Takuto futilely thrashing against Azathoth’s hold. The cognitive double approached him; eyes unblinking under the thick frames of his glasses as he watched Takuto struggle against the cognitive Persona. A click of his fingers, and the tendrils encompassed all of Takuto’s body other than his face, “This is for my patient, for my son,”

“You’re making a mistake!” Takuto’s voice cracked, his appeals to his cognitive double fruitless as he saw him snap his fingers. He felt himself pulled down by the otherwise unseen demon, his feet slowly sinking into the floor, the cognitive Takuto watching him disappear with a blank face.

“This is for his own good,” the cognitive Takuto said absolutely, his expression unmoving while he watched Takuto sink into the ground, “He needs to forget, he needs to be unburdened by the memories of her death, and that includes removing you from his life,”

“But-”

“It’s the only way,” the cognition repeated to him, the scenery around him going monochrome, the doubles skin growing paler before everything started to fade into white “We both know it’s the right way,”

“We...” Takuto croaked through the tears that started to well in the corners of his eyes, trying desperately to blink them away, tearing his eyes from his cognitive double in shame, “I was... I was foolish to think that. All it did was cause Ren and I suffering...”

The cognition said nothing.

“I should have been there for him...” he choked, the tentacles that wrapped around him grew ever tighter, “But I was a coward. I-”

He turned his head to see nothing. Featureless white. His throat tightened. There was nothing; he was stuck, yet the tendrils continued to drag him down, deeper and deeper, his breaths quickened, he was panicking, fidgeting against his bonds. It was too much, he was growing increasingly fatigued, he needed to escape, he-

“Daddy?”

Ren’s confused voice rang out, and Takuto quickly lost consciousness, his vision turning black.

---

“-he the next patient?” a voice rang out from the fringes of his consciousness, so familiar to his ears. His eyelids were heavy. Takuto wanted to sleep.

“Yes, Dr Am-” another voice accompanied the stranger. His mouth was dry. He felt sick.

“-ki, Takuto,” the first voice chuckled, Takuto dragging himself from his uncomfortable slumber, wincing in pain at the bright light that assaulted his vision.

“Who... who are-?”

Takuto jolted awake in alarm. The voice... was Ren, the grey eyes of his son looking at him, tired and heavy. His hair was slicked back neatly, his outfit a white, spotless suit, his shirt collar propped neatly around his neck. “Where am I?”

“You’re in good hands, Mr Maruki,” Ren smiled at him. It unnerved Takuto; Ren’s eyes shimmering yet empty, the curl of his lips rehearsed and forced, his voice too calm for the situation they both found themselves in, “Don’t worry. Soon your troubles will all disappear,”

Ren’s words did nothing to soothe Takuto. He looked down to where he currently sat, a white throne under him. Takuto paled.

“Patient seems to be distressed due to the loss of his son,” Ren spoke, snapping his fingers to the same featureless nurse from before, who then handed him a clipboard, “unforeseen circumstances; it seemed that the little one had died during a failed robbery-”

Ren fiddled his hair in thought, tucking a stray strand  behind his ear before continuing, “Patient seems to be in great psychological pain. Advisory procedure includes amnesia brought upon by actual-”

“Ren, please don’t,” Takuto cried, shaking his head furiously, “Please stop this madness, you’re making a-”

“Nurse, please make sure our patient here is secure!” Ren ordered the cognition, it nodded its head before lunging towards Takuto, its limbs sprouting from its form before pinning Takuto on the throne.

“Please, Mr Maruki,” Ren begged the thrashing Takuto, “Just calm down. I don’t want to cause you any more distress, the redhead was already enough trouble to treat,”

“Ren wait plea-”

A snap of his fingers. The entire amphitheatre rumbled violently, a great figure rose from behind Ren’s determined form, its golden skin and green eyes glowing in the light. Takuto sat there petrified, his mouth hung agape, his body quaked in fear, eyes wide as his forehead perspired with sweat, his mouth dry, his heart thumped with sickening speed, only able to hear it thrash in his chest as he gazed up upon the Persona who stared back at him with its unmoving face.

“Adam Kadmon,” Ren uttered his name, “You know what to do,”

A click of his gloved fingers, and Takuto’s vision was once more engulfed into black. ---

His brown eyes flickered open once more. Takuto rested his head on the featureless floor. He was back to where he started, the weird ethereal voice that Joker- no- his son had sent him to face the trial he so desperately wanted Takuto to endure. He wanted to go home, he wanted this madness to stop; he rose from the blackness, seeing that he was now palming wood, the walls surrounded him painted black while fluorescent light hung above his head.

“Was this...” he mumbled, yet the clicking of familiar heels made him snap to attention, hastily scrambling up to his feet, the shadow of his son walking towards him with hands in his pockets, golden eyes transfixed intently, emerging from the shadows of the empty room, him using his will upon the Palace they were currently in to convey his dramatic aura with persistent intimidation.

“Did you have fun, father?” Joker seethed, tongue rolling with each syllable as if the words were bitter to the taste. He looked pleased with himself, claiming his victory over his father, looking down at him with scorn, yet Takuto could see the agony that brewed in him by the quiver of his bottom lip, “I sure did, watching you flounder like that,”

“Was all of that how you truly felt?” Takuto meekly asked, watching how Joker swaggered towards him, avoiding the rhetorical inquiry from the shadow, “Everything I put you through... did you suffer that much?”

Takuto didn’t like how the corners of Joker’s mouth tugged higher, how his smile grew wider, thinner, his golden irises quivering in delight, how the white in his engulfed everything. Joker said nothing, his strides widening, Takuto’s feet firmly planted onto the floor.

“I-”

“The things I had to endure,” Joker roared, his expression unmoving yet his voice quaked with rage ill-fitting of the mask he wore, “The fights between my adopted parents, the stares and whispers I’d get from my classmates, the anguish I had to endure once I remembered. I kept-”

Joker’s facade slightly cracked, lines on his face, as if it were porcelain.

“I had nightmares” he cried, voice breaking, yet he betrayed no tears, “Nightmares from that day, seeing things that I couldn’t explain, seeing her dead, the blood... I always woke up in a cold sweat, never remembering why I was crying, I-”

Joker inched his face closer to Takuto’s with each word, stretching himself further upward, standing on the soles of his boots. What he didn’t expect from his rant was the arms that wrapped around him, the shadow pulled from his taunt into a comforting embrace, Takuto’s hand snaked to comb the strands of his unruly hair. Joker’s expression transitioned one from hate into befuddlement, feeling something hot drip down onto his grand, black coat.

“I’m sorry,” Takuto choked, bringing him in closer, undeterred by the mask poking painfully in his neck, “I’m sorry,” he repeated, grasping his son’s hair, palming it with long, tender strokes, “I couldn’t bear to look at you, you didn’t move, didn’t speak, I wanted you to get better, I thought-”

Takuto swallowed the bile that rose from his throat. He felt Joker’s body in his arms slump slightly, his head resting on his shoulder, “I’m sorry,”

The shadow said nothing, merely allowing himself to be held, his body limp, small heaves escaped from his throat every so often.

“Please, let us help you, Ren-”

The shadow snapped to attention, a hand around the scruff of Takuto’s jacket collar, tearing him away from the embrace they were locked in. In his shock, Takuto tried to escape from the grasp of the invisible assailant, only able to by slipping from the article of clothing, stumbling forward and running back to the hunched shadow, Joker’s gloved hands hiding his face. Yet as he got closer something stopped his advance; he collided into something, hard, yelping in agony as he clutched his nose, blinking to see that there was nothing in between them.

“You don’t get it, do you?” the shadow laughed while Takuto pressed his hands at the unseen barrier between them, the sound hollow, no joy in his words, “None of you do,”

The sound of trickling water filled the room, red swirled below Joker’s boots, Takuto confused and scared at the sight before him. It was like... It was like... “I’m going to make everything better,” Joker continued, peaking through the gap of his splayed hand on his face, “Heaven is nothing but a lie; I’m going to make a place where desires can truly be realised,”

“Ren, you don’t have to do this! Please,” Takuto begged, the red liquid rising rapidly up towards Joker’s hunched body, the shadow glaring at Takuto’s fearful form, “You’re making a mistake, Ren, don’t make the same mistake I did,”

“Of course I won’t,” Joker smiled as he stood up straight, the waters still rising, his facade perfect yet again, the calm on his face appearing so sudden that it terrified Takuto how easily Joker was able to slip back into calm, “I know a way to make them obey, all of them,”

“Is it true? Are you using-” the water was now up to his waist, Joker unfazed by the liquid slowly drowning him.

“A trickster never reveals his tricks,” Joker laughed, licking his lips while he watched Takuto squirm, “Not like I’ll tell you... any of you. You’ll just make everything more complicated, you’ll ruin all my plans, and the worst thing is the realisation that none of you care,”

“You’re destroying yourself in the process,” Takuto begged, his hands pressing against the glass, “Your friends have told me everything, each day your mental state is decaying further, this place is collapsing in upon itself. You’re losing yourself, Ren-”

“DON’T CALL ME BY THAT NAME,” Joker screeched, banging two of his fists onto the invisible barrier between them, Takuto clumsily stumbling back with shock, “I am not Ren, I’m not him, I am better, HIS better!” the red was now at his neck, the room shaking with invisible fury, “I will never go back to being him, Maruki, and you should realise that by now,”

“Ren-”

But it was too late, the shadow fully submerged in the red liquid, seemingly gone. Panic engulfed Takuto, him now thumping against the glass with his hands rolled into fists, desperate to save his son from the other side, “Ren!” he called out to no avail, continuing to pound against the barrier before him.

A subtle crack, and then another, then another. Takuto heard the trickling of water before he saw it, red liquid now bursting through the dam separating him and his son, the cascade of water spilling out like dominoes, and it wasn’t long for the barrier to completely break, the red torrent sweeping everything in his path up in its tide, taking Takuto with it.

---

A low rumble came from behind the theatre door, the thieves emerging from another one of Joker’s trials pitted against them, it swung from its hinges with Takuto being thrown outside of the room. He landed with an ‘oomph’ onto the carpeted floor, the group running towards him in shock and worry, though they could barely see a visible scratch on him.

“Maruki-san!” Sumire was the first to rush to his aid, kneeling next to the dazed brunette, blue flames dissipating her mask while her hands glowing with the familiar green of Diarahan, “Are you okay, are you hurt, what happened?”

“I’ll, I’ll be fine,” Takuto assured her gently dismissing her, trying hard to amass the strength to stand up on his own two feet, “I just... I just need a moment,”

“You don’t look fine,” Haru pointed out softly, “Are you sure you don’t need to rest? You look like you’ve been through a lot,”

“If it’s anything like the trials we have to endure, I’m surprised he came out unscathed,” Yusuke mumbled out loud, “Though then again, Ren is his son...”

“I didn’t do anything too taxing, haha,” Takuto weakly laughed, giving the thieves an unconvincing, weak smile, “It was... it was...”

His smile faded, his facade melted, looking down at the faded carpet below him, “I... I didn’t realise fully the pain I put him through,” he said, almost whispering, “He was suffering all that time. It’s my fault-”

“It isn’t your fault though,” Ann said earning perplexed looks from the thieves and an unamused glare from Goro, “I- I mean, it’s not just you who’s at fault here, Dr. Maruki,” she clarified, “I think we each all have something to do with making Ren’s Palace appear. We’re at fault too,”

“Yeah, it’s not like you were doin’ it for bad purposes too,” Ryuji interjected, “I mean, you did what you thought was right, right?”

“All of you are too forgiving,” Goro muttered.

Without warning the Palace started to quake, everyone thrown off from their feet as the walls started to shake, the chandeliers suspended above their heads rattling amongst the thundering rumble that consumed the premises.

“W-Why is the Palace acting up now?!” Morgana squeaked before falling onto his back, the others struggling to keep their balance, “I thought-”

“Ren’s not looking too good!” Futaba squeaked, fiddling and adjusting her headset as she looked over the information displayed by her Persona, “His vitals are falling fast!”

But Takuto didn’t pay attention to the panicked chatter of the thieves, looking down at his hands, mortified how the dull colour of the red carpet below his hands faded even further into a rotten brown. Lights flickered around him from above. It was a nightmare, the cognitive patrons screaming. He felt something small and dust-like trickle against his back.

The quake went as sudden as it came, the roar fading into deathly silent once more. Takuto peaked out from under his huddled hands that shielded him from above, eyes darting from side to side in a panic.

“W-what happened?” he asked the thieves who were trying to regain their footing, though he already suspected the answer.

“Ren’s getting worse,” Makoto answered his rhetorical question, and Takuto’s face flushed with dread. She looked at him, her eyes sympathetic behind her mask, “You should get out of here, it isn’t safe for you,”

“You’re... you’re right,” he sighed defeated, aware that if he had accompanied further than necessary, he would be nothing but dead weight. He didn’t have a Persona, no way to support the rest of the group within or outside of battles, sure to get in their way. He hung his head in defeat, carefully picking himself up from the floor, “Just... just make sure you do everything you can to save him... alright? He’s... he’s all I have left,”

The thieves nodded in response, yet their expressions conveyed the apprehensive outcome of their endeavour.

---

Ren said nothing, merely watched his shadow wandering throughout the grand space of the dressing room. His path was directionless, absent-mindedly walking in loops, circling the furniture, his stare unfocused and distant.

“Why?” was all Ren could ask, baffled by his own shadow, “Why do you keep lashing out?”

“He deserved it,” Joker reasoned, continuing his purposeless pace, the other cognitions that normally served him purposely out of sight, “They all do, Ren, why don’t you see that?”

“They don’t, they don’t, Joker,” Ren said, and Joker laughed bitterly, “You’re hurting them. You’re hurting the people I- we-”

“Did WE deserve what happened to us!?” Joker snapped at Ren, turning to him, venom in his expression, “Did WE deserve to forget Mom? To get carted off to someone else just like property, to have to endure our adopted parents and their wrath to only be thrown by the wayside, to have our father, LIE to us, to be USED by him for his actualization? DID we!? DID WE?!”

“Joke-”

“HE ABANDONED US!” Joker shrieked; the walls of the Palace quaked around him. His golden eyes welled with tears, pulsating with anguish and bitterness, “HE USED US AS A- A- A SICK GUINEA PIG! I am SICK of being used as a- as a- a- an OBJECT! Like I’m NOTHING!”

“Joker-”

“Stop denying that you feel this way,” the shadow squeaked, his red fingers intertwined in his black, dishevelled locks, “Stop it! It’s hopeless, Ren, you know that deep inside you don’t want to understand, you don’t want to forgive. That bastard-” another sob escaped from his throat, Joker choking on his tears and disgust, a familiar swell of power coursing through his being. Another shaky sigh. He could feel Ren finally coming to his senses, his lips curling upwards from the corners of his mouth, yet he barely felt any joy as he continued, “He’ll soon pay. They’ll all soon pay, and I’ll make sure that they’ll regret what they did to us.”

---

“Are you sure there’s nothing you can’t help with?”

Takuto looked at Sumire, she and Goro the only ones escorting Takuto onto the edges of the Palace’s domain. A weak, tired smile he wore as he shook his head, “I’ll be nothing but dead weight, Yoshizawa, and it looks like you all have everything under control,”

“At least we agree on something,” Goro hissed, arms crossed as he leaned his weight on one of his legs, “No Metaverse Powers or any standout physical strength. All you’ll be to us is a liability. Deadweight. A sitting duck-”

“I wonder why, Senpai,” Sumire pondered, “I mean, he should have his Persona at least, right?”

“I-”

“Regardless, I hope that I was able to help in some way,” Takuto interjected, tearing Sumire and Goro from their pondering, “But please... please save Ren,”

“We’re doing everything we can, Maruki-san,” Sumire nodded, “And if there’s any way you can help we’ll tell you, right, Akechi-senpai?”

“Actually, there is a way in which Maruki can help,” Goro mused, as he looked at the bespectacled man, “There something I was wondering about Joker’s plans,”

“You have my attention,”

Goro turned to look at the theatre before them. A moment passed, before he gazed back into his brown eyes, “I want you to see if there’s anything suspicious going on in the outside world, any changes at all in the public cognition. If you do, contact Yoshizawa, and she’ll contact me, am I clear?”

“Why? Are you suggesting-”

“Just do it,” Goro snapped, and without another word he turned on his heel, making his way back to the Palace. With an apology and a quick bow, Sumire too left Takuto alone at the cusp of the ethereal realm.

He watched them leave, disappearing into the Palace in front of him. His eyes trailed upwards. Towards the top floor of the accursed building, to where Ren was held against his own will by his own distorted thoughts.

“Hold on a little longer, Ren,” he croaked under his breath, unwilling to leave as he blinked the tears away from his welling eyes, “Just hold on a little longer, please.”

[brokenhardies]

okay so i finally have an idea where im going with my arcanas so ill post them below!

0 - The Fool - Yusuke Kitagawa I - The Magician - Sumire I - The Councillor - Tae Takemi II - The High Priestess - Haru Okumura III - The Empress - Futaba Isshiki IV - The Emperor - Akira Kurusu V - The Hierophant - Ichiko Ohya VI - The Lovers - Goro Akechi VII - The Chariot - Makoto Niijima VIII - Justice - Ann Takamaki IX - The Hermit - Ryuji Sakamoto X - The Wheel of Fortune XI - Strength - Sae XII - The Hanged Man - Zenkichi Hasegawa XIII - Death - Sadayo Kawakami XIV - Temperance - Takuto Maruki XV - The Devil XVI - The Tower XVII - The Star XVIII - The Moon - Hifumi Togo XIX - The Sun - Sojiro Sakura XX - Judgement - Kunizaku Okumura XXI - The World - The Phantom Thieves The Faith - Satoru Yoshizawa/Masaru Yoshizawa

all i need is fortune, devil, tower and star!

[we-cross-universe-king-relate]

Zenkichi and Maruki arcana swap headcanon.

this is just my little my firing off.

ApostleTakuto Maruki: Takuto Maruki is a (Not what you would expect from public security) Pubsec officer, who lost his girlfriend soon-to-be-fiance Rumi in a hit-n-run accident. A court ruling stopped him from testifying and so he opened up his own investigation to bring in the person who took his fiance from him: Jun Owada. One day a death threat was placed on his best friend: Shibusawa. telling him to either stop his investigation or his best friend dies. Not wanting to lose anyone else close to him, Maruki shut down his investigation and move to Kyoto. Frustrated by his friends spinelessness, Shibusawa began to resent Maruki and their friendship was strained. Shibusawa was a witness to the entire accident and even told Maruki it was Owada. But Maruki seemingly did nothing. When the nationwide change of heart epidemic happened Maruki took the opportunity to request assistance from the Phantom thieves under the promise that he would help them clear their names. One day, Maruki made a promise to Shibusawa that he would visit Rumi’s grave but after hearing the girls Shibusawa snapped claming that Maruki was just looking for another woman and forgot about Rumi. After all the other jails the thieves went to the kyoto jail to rescue Shibusawa who was supposedly kidnapped when in reality he was the monarch of it. After Maruki with the help of Sae was freed from the police, he and Futaba who escaped being captured, went into the jail to free the other’s. There Maruki confrence Shibusawa’s shadow. Shibusawa then threw all of Maruki’s failers in his face and  compared him to Owada, After making him remember what he’s fighting for and encouraging him Maruki awakens to his persona (i’ll leave that to your imagination) and freed the rest to the thieves. Once Maruki and the thieves defeted Shibusawa and changed his heart He and Maruki reconcile. 

here’s how i imagain to going:

Maruki: Shibusawa, You are right, I was so afraid of losing someone else important to me, I didn't want to feel the pain of losing important person again, but, I'm the one who caused you to feel pain. I’m sorry. i’m done being scared, Owada and Konoe are going down, i know you and Rumi have my back. I won't lose my Justice again.

CouncillorZenkichi Hasegawa: Zenkichi Hasegawa is a councillor at shujin acadamy who was hired by the school after the kamoshida scandel. He is a rather intense yet somewhat goofy councillor like by the student body. In reality he was one of the original cognitive science researchers. One day when he was at work there was a break in at his home the burglar killed his wife Aoi and his daughter Akane was left emotionally and mentely scared. Akane was then placed in a hospital to help her with her PTSD she suffered after witnessing her mother's death. Zenkichi visited his daughter over and over until one day her mentioned her other causing Akane to have a post traumatic episode the doctors explained that it could have been anything sound or phrasing. wanting to help his daughter forget the pain a mysterious entity offered to help Zenkichi. Zenkichi accepted and Akane’s cognition was rewrtien but at the cost of her forgetting her father. not wanting to reopen her wounds Zenkichi left Akane and further progressed in his research. His research was stolen later on by Masayoshi Shido. After the loss of his wife, daughter and having his research stolen, Zenkichi still continuited with it from scratch while being consumed by bitterness, rage and unfairness. In shujin he meets Ren and get him to help complete his research. After his research was finished and yaldabaoth was defeted Zenkichi took up the role of god and created a reality where everything is fair, The evil were punished for their crimes where the good were lived their lives peacefully. Realising that he needed to be stopped Ren and his friends confront Zenkichi in a battle with his persona: Azathoth. After the battles in the palace collapsing Zenkichi and Ren have a fist fight. i think for Zenkichi it would go like this:

Zenkichi: Everything in my life WAS TAKEN FROM ME! AOI! AKANE, WHY!? a world where the injustice is brought to justice.

[artekai]

Yo it's the anon who asked for fic recs. Thanks for those I've bookmarked all of them and read a few already. So I'm not seeing much content for the Appy Juice Boy on here... Do you have any recommendations for blogs to follow for some good quality Maruki?

Yeah, anon, I feel you, I’m also starved of content...

Well, @the-councillor is exclusively dedicated to Maruki, so that’s a great place to start!

@wildcard-rumi also has more Maruki content in addition to her fics. Headcanons, Rumi and Shibusawa appreciation, and all that good stuff. I know I mention her a lot (aaa sorry if it’s annoying, Rui!), but I reblog most of the Maruki content I have from her because somehow she always manages to get to it before I can check the tag haha

To be honest, I don’t know how much of their blog is “dedicated” to Maruki, but I’ve seen a lot of great art of him from @angstyastro, mostly Takawa (Takuto x Kawakami) but also gen stuff, so you should check that out!

Hmm... @inkpens-coffee‘s blog is really, really new, but he’s been consistently posting about Maruki, so maybe it could interest you!

In all fairness, I’ve been here on Tumblr for like two months, so I’m probably not the best person to ask about this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Still, I don’t think I’ve seen any other blogs that regularly post content of our counselor, and I check the tag(s) on a daily basis... Making this list has only made me realize how little content there actually is of him, which is sad.

I might be forgetting someone, though, so if anyone has anything to add, please, please do! I am always in need of more Maruki content, I can’t get enough of this man, and I want to help anon out but I’m kind of at a loss :/

[starlight-phantom]

11 and 13 for the New Year’s asks! Happy New Year!

11 - Name a fellow fan that you appreciated this year

Hmmmm.... There's a few... But, I think I'll say @denizen-of-dreamland @inkpens-coffee @eldrxtch @angstyastro and @the-councillor for making up the majority of the Takuto Maruki tag this past year. I respect the hard work very much. 👍👍

13 - What's something you want to do less of next year?

Hmm... I'd say crying but that's wholly unrealistic (I am a very emotional fool, I cry at everything) so I'll say being picky. I was always a very picky eater as a kid but the past couple of years, I've been more adventurous when it comes to food. So, yeah, I'll try not to be as picky and try new things.